Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1
The first issue of Operation Cinder resulted in the Empire's Inferno Squad disbanding with defections to the New Republic, Hidden Empire will see the Emperor unleashing Inferno in their prime after Empire Strikes Back, led by Commander Iden Versio. Now, this first issue reveals they'll be tracking down Crimson Dawn (which may be carrying a big secret about Inferno's past).
As seen in the novel Battlefront 2: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden, Inferno was an elite Imperial Special Forces commando unit. Led by Iden Versio, Inferno also featured Del Meeko, Gideon Hask, and Seyn Marana. However, Seyn sacrificed herself during Inferno's first mission to maintain her squad's cover, the commandos having infiltrated a sect of Saw Gerrera's Partisans known as the Dreamers under false identities. Stabbed with a vibroblade and left behind without a burial, the rest of Inferno believed Seyn to have died for the Empire.
However, the new Hidden Empire #1 from Charles Soule and Steven Cummings sees Crimson Dawn's Lady Qi'ra working with a group known as the Orphans. This includes a woman named Sear, seen wearing black armor with flames painted on the torso and arms. As such, Star Wars may be teasing that Sear is Seyn Marana herself, alive and now working against the Empire. None of Inferno's surviving saw where the Dreamers dumped her body, so it's possible she might have been rescued and/or survived. If that's the case, Inferno Squad's deployment against Crimson Dawn could lead to a very surprising reunion.
Did Inferno Squad's Fourth Member Survive To Crimson Dawn?
While it could all be coincidental, there are several notable clues. Sear and Seyn are very similar names along with her modified black armor, carrying a resemblance to Inferno's uniforms as a unique appearance among the other Orphans. Likewise, the end of the Inferno Squad novel saw its surviving giving the same toast Seyn shared at the book's beginning which featured a line about "rending the flesh of their enemies". Likewise, it also makes sense that a surviving Seyn would an organization fighting against the Empire that wasn't the Rebellion. While she could have easily felt abandoned and betrayed by the Empire, she had significant problems with the Dreamers' brutality, a group of extremists that could easily be conflated with the Rebel Alliance.
At any rate, this new chapter of history for Battlefront 2's Inferno Squad will undoubtedly prove to be very exciting, regardless of whether Sear is revealed to be their lost fourth member or not. While Crimson Dawn is doomed to fail their new war against Star Wars' Sith Lords, it's going to be a wild ride all the same. Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 is on sale from Marvel Comics.
